Political topguns including CM Yogi cast their ballot in Civic Polls
Lucknow: Voting for the first phase of urban local body elections in Uttar Pradesh began on Thursday morning. Officials said the polling, which began at 7 am, will continue till 6 pm. According to the State Election Commission (SEC), voters in 37 districts will exercise their franchise to elect 7,593 representatives, including 10 mayors and 820 corporators, in the first phase of polling.
These elections will present a crucial test for the parties ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections. Over 2.40 crore people are eligible to vote in the first phase, officials said, adding that all posts are being contested on party symbols.
In the first phase, polling will be held for 103 posts of Nagar Palika Parishad president and 2,740 posts of Nagar Palika Parishad members. Besides, voters will decide the fate of 275 candidates contesting for the post of Nagar Panchayat president and 3,645 candidates of Nagar Panchayat member.
A total of 44,232 candidates are in the fray in the first phase. SEC officials said 85 delegates, including 10 corporators, have already been elected unopposed. The districts where mayors will be elected in the first phase are Saharanpur, Agra, Moradabad, Firozabad, Mathura, Jhansi, Prayagraj, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will cast his vote in Lucknow, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will cast his vote in Gorakhpur. Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak will cast their vote in Prayagraj and Lucknow respectively. Former Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma will also cast his vote in Lucknow.
According to the police, 19,880 inspectors and sub-inspectors, 1,01,477 head constables and constables, 47,985 home guards, 86 companies of Territorial Armed Constabulary, 35 companies of Central Armed Police Forces and 7,500 under-training sub-inspectors have been deployed. Smooth conduct of elections. Polling for the second and final phase of the urban body elections will be held on May 11. The counting of votes for both the phases will take place on May 13.
